Tri-City 6, Everett 1

When the Tips were blown out by Portland on Saturday, they were taken to the woodshed by a vastly superior team. Tonight in getting blown out, the Tips just weren’t very good. Don’t take anything away from Tri-City, which is a quality team that scored some pretty goals. But Everett didn’t put up a lot of resistance.

It’s odd, because the Tips looked fine in the first period and were unlucky to be trailing 1-0 after one. But things fell apart completely at the start of the second, and I really don’t know why.

There were a lot of different areas where the Tips struggled during the final two periods:

– The defense had a rough night. The defensemen struggled making plays and getting the puck out of the zone with any kind of purpose, and a couple d-men were really off their games. I’m sure it didn’t help that Mirco Mueller (Top Prospects Game) and Connor Cox (neck) didn’t play.

– Everett couldn’t control the puck. The Tips weren’t able to settle the puck down, complete passes, or control the passes when they did reach their intended target.

– Special teams were a disaster. Everett sort of earned the golden sombrero of special teams as the Tips failed to score on the power play (0-for-2 and no real scoring chances) and failed to kill off a single Tri-City advantage (the Americans went 3-for-3, including scoring on both ends of a five-on-three).

– When things started going bad for the Tips, there was a lot of individual play as players tried to get Everett back into it on their own instead of as a team.

TURNING POINT

I don’t know what happened during the first intermission, but a different Everett team took the ice to start the second period.

THREE STARS

First star: Brian Williams, Tri-City. One goal and one assist, great effort on the icebreaking goal.

Second star: Parker Bowles, Tri-City. One goal and one assist, made himself a nuisance in the Everett zone.

Third star: Michal Plutnar, Tri-City. One goal and one assist, also solid in his own end.

The Herald’s honorable mention: Luke Lee-Knight, Tri-City. 32 saves, was at his best during the first period when the game was still close.